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The Friday Five for 30 May 2025

These questions were suggested by

malloreigh.

1. What sets you apart from your friends?

2. What sets you apart from your family?

3. What sets you apart from your coworkers/fellow students?

4. What is the one thing about you that is most unique?

5. What is your most interesting quality?

Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.

If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!

The Larks, Still Bravely Singing, Fly (The Secret Garden–Frances Hodgson Burnett)

https://polyrecsdaily.tumblr.com/post/784920689142530048

The Larks, Still Bravely Singing, Fly (The Secret Garden–Frances Hodgson Burnett):

The Larks, Still Bravely Singing, Fly, by Theo_Winterwood. Nestra: Spring had never been distant to Dickon, not until he learned how the bunks in the trench were so unlike sleeping in secret hollows on the moor with animals close.

https://polyrecsdaily.tumblr.com/post/784920689142530048

(no subject)

I feel like I have recently seen more than one person on my reading list linking to the Ever-Fixed Mark series by

AMarguerite -- which I enjoy very much whenever I reread it, but I was poking around and reminded of And Now the Storm-Blast Came, so now I am rereading that. It appears to be unfinished (and probably forever so) but is giving me exactly what I come to Jane Austen fanfiction for, which is extra-intense woobification of her iron woobie underappreciated heroines, of whom Anne Elliot is an excellent example. I am sure I read the story before, but have no real memory of anything that happens in it, so it's as if it's all new to me.

Having finished Andor (which did come together well in the end, I felt, with some touches I really appreciated, especially everything to do with Dedra's story and how she ended up) I decided to give Murderbot a try; I never have read the books, so it's all new to me, and I've seen the first two episodes. It seems enjoyable so far?

Also, a while ago I agreed to do some editing for English usage for someone on a different website where I use a different username (which is why I am mentioning it here not under flock) but I have not been back to work on it for about a month and now the avoidance is making everything worse and I can't make myself go to that website at all! Why is my brain doing this to me? It is literally the matter of sending a quick apology and getting my act together.

Birds of Blackfriars - Michelle Lovric

Posted by Unknown

http://the-history-girls.blogspot.com/2025/05/birds-of-blackfriars-michelle-lovric.html

I love birds and have lived within chirping distance of Blackfriars Bridge for two decades. Yet I only quite recently realized that it’s a twitcher’s paradise.

From the road, you’d never suspect it. You have to lean over the parapet to see the full, strange spectacle. Each column, east and west, is adorned with life-size sculptures of sea and river birds rendered in Portland Stone. Many beaks and wings are sadly eroded by the uncontrolled emissions of vessels on the Thames (a long and interesting story for another time). But some of the birds are still magnificent and even magnificently eccentric.

The bridge, the second on this site, was designed by Joseph Cubitt. (Cubitt also built the first Blackfriars Rail Bridge, now visible only in attractive iron columns poking out of the water.)

The sculptures are the work of John Birnie Philip (1824 – 1875). a London-born sculptor who worked extensively for the architect George Gilbert Scott. Philip’s daughter Beatrix married James McNeill Whistler in 1888.

The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria in November 1869, and it is said that members of the public booed her. This may have been because many homes were demolished to create the run-up to the bridge. Or it may have been the public expressing their anger at her disappearance from public view in the previous eight years, following the death of her husband Prince Albert.

The sculpted birds, at least, deserved a better reception. They are very hard to photograph, and I’m a poor photographer at the best of times, but a few images follow to give you an idea of their charms. Probably the best way to photograph them would be from the water below ... but the Thames, with its six metre tides, is not a place where that can safely be accomplished. Filming on the river is in any case controlled by the Port of London Authority ...

There birds on the west side are fresh-water creatures. Those on the east, facing towards the estuary, are sea-birds. One explanation for this choice is that Blackfriars was the place where the river turned from salt to sweet. However, technically that is a moveable feast depending on freshwater flows from the west and tides from the east.

Going south to north on the west side of the bridge, you’ll see herons, swans with waterlilies, crows.

And on east side, going north to south, there are black back gulls, or albatrosses, Canada and other kinds of geese.

And here are a few images. I urge you to lean carefully over the parapet next time you find yourself on the bridge. It really is a delightful sight.

This video gives a few more glimpses of the birds: Secrets of Blackfriars Bridge - YouTube

Michelle Lovric’s website is www.michellelovric.com

http://the-history-girls.blogspot.com/2025/05/birds-of-blackfriars-michelle-lovric.html

Summer Repeat: Rome

Posted by The Frock Flicks Team

https://frockflicks.com/summer-repeat-rome/

https://frockflicks.com/?p=148351

The Frock Flicks team is taking time off to start the summer, so we’re repeating

https://frockflicks.com/summer-repeat-rome/

https://frockflicks.com/?p=148351

Entry tags:

2025,
pinch hits

2 new pinch hits

Updated pinch hits here! Thanks very much to everyone who has claimed one. If you can claim one of these, please comment with your AO3 name and the number of the pinch hit you want. All comments are screened.

Like main assignments, these pinch hits are due on 28 June, and they require a check-in during the week of 7-14 June. If you would like to claim one but know you'll need longer than a month, please let me know, and we can discus.

You may ask to exchange your assignment for an open pinch hit. If you are given that pinch hit and fulfill it, this won't count as a default. Please tell me in your comment requesting a pinch hit if you are asking to swap.

( PH 2 - Blue Lock (Manga), 終わりのセラフ | Owari no Seraph | Seraph of the End (Anime & Manga), Fairy Tail )

( PH 5 - Temeraire - Naomi Novik, The Inheritance Cycle - Christopher Paolini, His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman )

( PH 7 - Dial M for Murder (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955), Dial M for Murder - Hatcher )

( PH 8 - Path of Night (Podcast), Vampire: The Masquerade - Various Authors (Choice of Games), Vampire: The Masquerade Port Saga (Podcast) )

( PH 9 - 終わりのセラフ | Owari no Seraph | Seraph of the End (Anime & Manga), Blue Lock (Manga), Fairy Tail )

( PH 13 - The Elementalists (Visual Novel), Heart of Battle - Fay Ikin, Royal Affairs - Harris-Powell-Smith )

( PH 17 - Breaking Bad, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), The Godfather (1972 1974 1990) )

( PH 18 - Ancient History RPF, Solstice (MoaCube Visual Novel), Crossover Fandom )

( PH 19 - Ace Combat (Video Games), Dishonored (Video Games), Warhammer 40k (Novels) - Various Authors )

( PH 20 - ATEEZ (Band), Blink-182 (Band), Men's Basketball RPF )

( PH 24 - Biggles Series - W. E. Johns, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Original Work )

( CLAIMED - PH 25 - The Pitt (TV), The Faculty (1998), All Elite Wrestling )

Entry tags:

2025,
admin

Please check your emails!

I've sent out a few questions from Fandom5K creators that haven't received responses for a while, so please make sure you check the email associated with your AO3 account occasionally during this exchange. This may be especially important as we reach the deadlines.

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All the Things (Alias)

https://polyrecsdaily.tumblr.com/post/784828445336256512

All the Things (Alias):

All The Things, by Kat. Nestra: Oh, man, this is good. Sydney tearing herself apart and putting herself back together.

https://polyrecsdaily.tumblr.com/post/784828445336256512

Entry tags:

Blood Over Bright Haven, by M. L. Wang

Sciona, the first woman ever admitted to the University of Magic, takes on Thomil, a janitor from a discriminated-against culture, as her lab assistant, and they both learn dark secrets about their world.

Thomil is introduced when his clan makes a desperate run across deadly ground to get to the safety of a city surrounded by a magical shield. The shield protects against bitter cold and the deadly Blight, which randomly zaps and dissolves people, but the area around the city is particularly Blight-infested. Only Thomil and his baby niece survive. When they arrive, they find that the city natives hate their race and has consigned them all as a permanent underclass.

Ten years later, Sciona, a well-to-do young woman in the city, is preparing for her magic exam to try to get into the sexist magic university, which no woman has ever passed. Though she does pass, all the male mages but her mentor hate her and hassle her. The only other person who's even remotely nice to her is Thomil, the janitor, who is assigned as her lab assistant as a cruel joke. But though Sciona is racist and classist, and Thomil is mildly sexist in an oblivious way, they find that they kind of get along...

Wang has an engaging, easy-read style for the most part, the intros to the two main characters are quite compelling, and despite the heavy-handed axes of privilege themes, Thomil and Sciona have a nice dynamic.

I said "for the most part." The exception is the magic system, which I think is basically computer programming via magic typewriters (spellographs). The wizards program a spell to access a specific area of the magical Otherrealm (which they can't see or sense in any way, so they're just plotting points on a grid) to grab magical energy or matter from it. But we get MUCH more detailed and lengthy descriptions of it, from long explanations to actual spells:

CONDITION 1: DEVICE is 15 Vendric feet higher than its position at the time of activation.

ACTION 1: FIRE will siphon from POWER an amount of energy no lower than 4.35 and no higher than 4.55 on the Leonic scale.

ACTION 2: FIRE will siphon within the distance of DEVICE no higher than 3 Vendric inches.

If and only if CONDITION 1 is met, ACTION 1 and ACTION 2 will go into effect.

The first half is Sciona and Thomil working on various spells, interspersed with very heavy-handed commentary on colonialism, sexism, and how Sciona totally gets feminism when it applies to her personally but is oblivious to all other isms. Sciona is an awful, self-centered person and Thomil is mostly perfect. Almost exactly halfway through, there is a shocking reveal. At least, it shocked many readers. It did not shock me.

( Read more... )

Despite what the plot description sounds like, Sciona and Thomil do not have a romance beyond occasional sexy feelings. It's a magical dystopia/dark academia, I think similar to Babel (which I could not get very far into) but less anvillicious in that it does not have literal footnotes saying stuff like "This is a racist comment and racism is bad." (In the bookshop, I have Blood Over Bright Haven tagged "If you like Babel you will like this.") Sadly for M. L. Wang, this comparative subtlety got them some reviews on Goodreads accusing them of condoning Sciona being a bad person and endorsing her beliefs.

I did not care for this book but I can see how it would work for many readers, especially if they're shocked by the twist at the halfway mark.

Entry tags:

book report

Counting Down with You, by Tashie Bhuiyan

Karina Ahmed's parents have gone to Bangladesh for a month to visit family, leaving her with her grandmother, her younger brother, and the class "bad boy" (he wears a leather jacket) she's supposed to be tutoring in English, if he ever shows up.

In this, I think Bhuiyan wrote the book she needed—a dutiful brown girl finds a rich white Tumblr-therapy speaking boyfriend and the courage to defy her parents—and I hope it finds the readers who need it. The story is moving and the romance is sweet, though the prose often reads as unpracticed and the romance eventually devolves into saccharine cliches with Ace (his name is Ace) saying things like "you've stolen my heart" and "you're the brightest star here" which dulls its originality and makes Ace the most supportive, considerate, loving, patient, woke, rich white teenage boy in all of New York City, which was a bit hard to swallow. It's 100% wish fulfillment and I'm 100% cool with that, but it made Ace and the actual dating the least satisfying part of this for me. Instead, I was most interested in Karina's struggle to figure out what she wanted from her life and whether or not she could stand up to her parents and ask for it. The family dynamics are well drawn and I was invested in Karina and her relationship with her parents, her brother, her grandma, and her many, many cousins.

Features:

a Muslim Bangladeshi-American teenager
teenage poetry
fake dating
a kick-ass Dadu (grandma)
the unconditional love of two OTT best friends
depictions of anxiety
controlling parents

Entry tags:

The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin (1972)

In this Hainish novella set sometime before Rocannon's World, the pacifist inhabitants of an idyllic forest planet are enslaved and brutalized by colonizers from the Terran military who are there to ecocidally clear-cut the forest for wood because Earth is nearly out of trees.

( I have read this book before, but not in a long time because I'm afraid I don't like it. (cut for negativity) )

Summer Repeat: Another Period

Posted by The Frock Flicks Team

https://frockflicks.com/summer-repeat-another-period/

https://frockflicks.com/?p=148350

The Frock Flicks team is taking time off to start the summer, so we’re repeating

https://frockflicks.com/summer-repeat-another-period/

https://frockflicks.com/?p=148350

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Knicks-Pacers on tv

Entry tags:

what a find by O. G.

I slept through for a full 7 hours last night! right up until my alarm went off, actually, without waking up once!

I also got some fantastic videos of Baby Miss L going nuts about TATOES and BROCCOLI and also some mouse game she plays on my sister's tablet. She is such a character! <333

I haven't started the new season of Poker Face or Andor yet - I am still in HGTV mode. No emotional investment, and it satisfies both my nosiness about other people's houses and my need to be judgy about other people's aesthetic taste without hurting anyone's feelings.

Every time someone says they want to go BOLD with color and their palette is black and white I want to punch them. (I'm not saying black and white can't be a bold choice, just that it's not a bold COLOR choice.) Everyone wants POPS of COLOR but then the color turns out to be greige. I just...find it wearisome sometimes. I get it if you are doing a quick refresh in order to sell, since allegedly neutrals sell better? But these are people supposedly doing their "forever homes" or their "dream homes" so why not pick something interesting? At least a little bit? In the downstairs powder room??? I'm begging you, please!

Ahem.

If you asked me what my preferred home decor aesthetic is, I would say beachy with lots of blues and greens in various shades, and okay, a lot of white, a little gray, and some occasional wood or wicker accents. Definitely would want hardwood floors (or LVP that looked like hardwood). I'd want a large zero-access shower with a built-in bench with some fancy tile, and I wouldn't want to waste space on a tub (or double sinks, since I live alone), but I would like more linen/towel storage.

I would obviously want a large chef's kitchen, with FULL SIZE appliances and a big range - I don't go for that countertop stovetop and wall oven set up, I'd want a bigass stove with six burners - and I certainly wouldn't put it (or the sink) on an island. I'd like a large butcher block work surface and a breakfast nook with an eastern exposure, but don't need a formal dining room or a ginormous island. I do like white upper cabinets, probably with reeded glass doors, and then a color on the lower cabinets - a cobalt blue, maybe, or a deep teal.

The place I might go a little modern/industrial/maybe even avant garde would be in the light fixtures. I have seen some WILD chandeliers and lighting options on these shows and some of them are gorgeous.

Obviously I worked a lot of this out in the time between going into contract on my apartment and finally closing, so I was able to pick stuff out that all kind of went together, because I absolutely understand being a renter for years and not really being able to put your stamp on a place. (all the people who already live in their own houses who have no sense of their own style, though - they kind of baffle me, because didn't they paint/decorate their house? I get maybe not knowing what your architectural style is but these are mainly people in their 30s and older - they should have some sense of what they like, shouldn't they, even if they can't pin it to a specific style?)

Anyway, I don't need people to do their own homes in my preferred style, and some of these homes turn out to be gorgeous, but it would be nice if everyone wasn't doing the same things across several different home renovation shows. I guess HGTV has a bit of a house style? But if you've watched any of it, you can see why Keith and Evan from Bargain Block are my favorites - they actually do a lot of fun different things (or they used to, anyway), where even if it isn't something I'd choose, it still has a strong sense of style.

*

The Ballot (Downton Abbey)

https://polyrecsdaily.tumblr.com/post/784736455890255872

The Ballot (Downton Abbey):

The Ballot, by sheafrotherdon. shrift: I loved this! And I also love the Dowager Countess.

https://polyrecsdaily.tumblr.com/post/784736455890255872

Entry tags:

19th century

A Waltz in the Garden - AU Dracula & Mina Tale - Inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

Fandom: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

Characters: Dracula, Mina Murray, Lucy Westenra + Original Characters.

Pairing: Dracula / Mina
Era: 19th Century

Title: A Waltz in the Garden

Rating: G

Word Count: 1,263

Summary: At a summer dance, Mina meets an intriguing stranger.

Note: I created this romantic little tale to honor Bram Stoker and World Dracula Day - May 26. On this day in 1897, his novel "Dracula" was first published.

Link: archiveofourown.org/works/65934640

Entry tags:

TV Tuesday: The Bold and the Beautiful

Laptop-TV combo with DVDs on top and smartphone on the desk

It’s often been the case that the rich and powerful are shown on TV far more often than lower middle class, working class, or poor people, despite their actual percentages in most populations. Does this bother you as a viewer? Does genre play any role in that?

Summer Repeat: Movie Costumes & Sewing Patterns

Posted by The Frock Flicks Team

https://frockflicks.com/summer-repeat-movie-costumes-sewing-patterns/

https://frockflicks.com/?p=148349

The Frock Flicks team is taking time off to start the summer, so we’re repeating

https://frockflicks.com/summer-repeat-movie-costumes-sewing-patterns/

https://frockflicks.com/?p=148349

The Te of John (Stargate: Atlantis)

https://polyrecsdaily.tumblr.com/post/784644679574700032

The Te of John (Stargate: Atlantis):

The Te of John, by Speranza. shrift: A medical team met them with a gurney, and they gave McKay a light sedative and wheeled him away. John followed, feeling drained, weighted down by yet another fuck-up; days like this he hated his job, or maybe it was himself that he… Continue reading →

https://polyrecsdaily.tumblr.com/post/784644679574700032

Frock Flicks Is Off for Memorial Day

Posted by The Frock Flicks Team

https://frockflicks.com/frock-flicks-is-off-for-memorial-day-2/

https://frockflicks.com/?p=143999

Frock Flicks is off for this American holiday. If you need a Frock Flicks fix,

https://frockflicks.com/frock-flicks-is-off-for-memorial-day-2/

https://frockflicks.com/?p=143999

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Mets vs Dodgers on tv (radio)

Entry tags:

at the knees with a cutter

The bbq was fun, even if the weather was chilly and rainy. We saw a huge double rainbow after it rained, and one of them was the most vivid and long-lasting rainbow I ever saw. it was pretty amazing.

Baby Miss L had a grand old time her in personal ball pit, and dancing to both the 90s playlist (it was a 90s-themed party) and later to her own favorite Elmo songs. She was really vibing with Pantera and Alice in Chains - that child is going to be in the mosh pit at the club before you know it.

In other news, Alyssa tried the confetti cookies and really liked them. This morning, she texted me like, "this is exactly what they're supposed to taste like!" Anthony and my sister also liked them, so I guess it's just me, but thy were disgustingly sweet to me. *hands* Trish also liked the brownies, so that worked out too! I will definitely have to make the brownies again, so I can taste them. My sister made ice cream cone cupcakes for the party, which I guess she used to make for the kids to take to school for their birthday's back in the day, so there was a nostalgia factor involved. They were good, though I still like my chocolate cupcake recipe best. *g*

Now I'm watching the Mets, though really, I'm listening to the local radio broadcast because good lord the ESPN broadcast is the worst. Simply terrible in all aspects.

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